


Merit

by Minos_forlorn



Series: Though we grit our teeth [4]
Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/F, Hurt/Comfort, Non-Sexual Intimacy, are they together at this point who knows, non-sexual nudity, the real vulnerability here is me including my art as well
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-15
Updated: 2021-01-15
Packaged: 2021-03-13 09:29:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,065
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28776087
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Minos_forlorn/pseuds/Minos_forlorn
Summary: Annie helping Pieck after a battle.
Relationships: Pieck Finger & Annie Leonhart, Pieck Finger/Annie Leonhart
Series: Though we grit our teeth [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2067876
Comments: 2
Kudos: 22





	Merit

**Author's Note:**

> You know that part from Anne Carson's translation of Orestes that's like:
> 
> “Pylades: I'll take care of you.   
> Orestes: It's rotten work.   
> Pylades: Not to me. Not if it's you.” 
> 
> Yeah.
> 
> (This is set in an AU where RBA chose to return to Marley 2 years into the Paradis mission.)

“Annie.”

She takes her eyes off the distant smoke and turns her head to the side where Zeke is standing. “Help me out with Pieck, will you?” he says, nodding down at the girl in his arms. 

He’s her superior, so it’s not so much a question as it is an order. It’s also routine by this point. She follows him onto the ship and down the hallway towards her and Pieck’s cabin, all the way keeping her head low to avoid any glances from people. Not that anyone pays them much attention – they're all either drinking in celebration or drinking in mourning. She focuses on the floorboards, Zeke’s boots, Pieck’s limp arm, the floor again. 

Annie doesn’t usually get pushed to the point of passing out. It’s happened on two occasions - just after they got their titans, when the army was testing their abilities and limits, and then again not long after, on the Paradis mission. Shifting still leaves her drained and her limbs ache, naturally, but it could be a lot worse. 

“I’m sure she’d rather have a girl help her with this,” Zeke is saying, setting Pieck down on the bed. 

“Yeah, I’ve got it,” Annie snaps. She’s too tired and annoyed to bite her tongue, but luckily Zeke doesn’t care how they talk to each other behind closed doors. She waits for him to shuffle out of the room before crouching down at Pieck’s backpack to look for a nightgown. Pieck never bothers with unpacking; it’s not like she spends any time on missions in human form. 

She lets out a breath to relax, now that there is finally silence. This battle ended up dragging on for far too long. She and Galliard took turns on the battlefield, but the Cart was always there, either with the Panzer unit or transporting supplies. The army has started utilising it for offence much more lately to compensate for the lack of the Jaw. Turns out, Pieck is capable of turning the weakest of the titans into a ruthless killing machine, its rapid transformations more than making up for its lack of defence. Unfortunately, that means she gets pushed to her limit way too often. They ended up using nearly all the titans just to take out the heavy machinery. Annie knows that it will only get tougher as the world develops new weapons to counter them. She is not looking forward to it.

There’s a light touch on her cheek, bringing her out of her thoughts, and then a small  _ hey _ from Pieck. 

“Hi,” Annie sits on the bed, a light smile tugging at her own lips. It’s nice to see her again, not in titan form, after a long time. She’s missed her soft voice. “Can you sit up?”

“Let’s see,” she mutters, taking Annie’s hand. “’d they charge you with taking care of me again?”

“You know I don’t mind,” Annie says as she gets busy with the uniform’s buttons. 

“Still.” Pieck clenches and unclenches her fist a few times. There was a scary moment a while back when she ended up dropping a mug due to sudden numbness. Sure, the Cart is able to maintain its form for months, but the payoff is a long a recovery time. Except Pieck rarely gets the chance to properly rest up these days, what with this damn war.

“I just wish it didn’t leave me so...” Annie takes in her glassy gaze, focused on nothing in particular as she searches for a word. “... out of it.”

“We might get some time off now,” Annie muses, grabbing some towels and soap and heading to the sink. “They signed the treaty, right?”

“I hope so. They can just send Bertholdt to blow up whatever else will inevitably come up.”

“Right.” 

Annie helps her take the shirt off, then hands her a towel and moves to sit behind her. It’s something they got in the habit of doing after particularly exhausting missions; a really makeshift form of basic hygiene, but it works for now, until Pieck regains enough strength to make it to a shower. And since Annie shivers at the mere thought of being trapped inside one’s titan for several months at a time, she has no problem making sure Pieck is as comfortable as possible in the days after. 

Pieck ends up just pressing the towel to her face for a while and taking a few deep breaths, shoulders sagging in relief while Annie slowly runs it over her back. They’re both still steaming, so cold water on the skin is a nice sensation. Annie only ever takes cold showers, even when she has access to warm water. Force of habit. Her fingers gently trace the titan scars that run down Pieck’s neck and shoulder blades. Pieck has a couple of centimetres and years on Annie, but in this moment, she looks very small. Annie is one of the few people who ever see her in this state, and it’s moments like this that tend to pop into her mind during meetings, watching her banter with Zeke, sharp and calculated. She often ponders what she might have been capable of in a world where Marley didn’t treat its people like animals to be slaughtered.

It’s moments like this that reignite her hatred toward her country again and again, buried deep over the course of the years but never extinguished. She is grimly aware of her own complicity in its long list of unforgivable deeds. There is nothing to be done, though. They’re on borrowed time, as she is reminded way too often, and completely powerless, titan power notwithstanding. She can’t even be mad at her father for enlisting her in the program, nor at herself for going along with it. There’s no good ending to be had either way. Though she grits her teeth, Annie has resigned herself to the fact that she cannot fight, nor run. So, she chooses instead to make herself useful where she deems it important. In this case, helping Pieck with her nightgown. 

Once it’s done, Pieck lets her body drop onto the bed. Annie gets up to let her rest while she tends to her own needs, but before she can slip away, Pieck catches her by the wrist, prompting her to turn around.

“Annie,” she mutters, half-asleep. “Thank you.”

She can’t help but smile at that. “Anytime.”


End file.
